Cloud computing privacy can be examined within the three following three categories: 1) Unintentional user-driven data leaks; 2) Lack of controls or protections from the Cloud provider; and 3) Intentional data leaks for monetary gain. Diana Kelley discusses cloud privacy issues.

Privacy--or the lack thereof--accounts for many of the headlines grabbing readers attention on Internet use and cloud computing, in general. Recent coverage includes: Facebooks URL referrer and application issues, where personal data is/was shared without user transparency, and Googles referrer data leaks that prompted a former FTC employee to file a complaint with the FTC. Formal responses from Facebooks and Googles CEOs havent given users or businesses much comfort.

Googles Schmidt infamously took a less than serious view of lost privacy when he suggested people change their names if poor privacy controls and teenage oversharing lead to problems when they reach adulthood. Facebooks Zuckerberg emphasizes the benefits of sharing information in a social context, but skirts the topic of potential negative impact from sensitive data exposure.

Theres also little doubt that for most organizations a predominantly Cloud-based architecture is the future. Whether an enterprise opts to go Cloud for messaging and backup (ex: Exchange Hosted Services, SkyDrive, and Gmail), select services (ex: Salesforce and Lawson Enterprise Management Systems) or all messaging and productivity applications (ex: Google Applications for Enterprise (GAPE) and Education, Microsoft Office 365/BPOS), core privacy concerns persist because sensitive data exists in all of the above models.

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